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Handling control modules

Handling control modules


All control modules are more or less sensitive to static electricity or electrostatic discharges (ESD = ElectroStatic Discharge) and, if handled carelessly or incorrectly, may be damaged so seriously that they no longer work properly. A malfunction need not necessarily show up right away and a damaged control module can gradually deteriorate so that the fault will not become apparent until much later. It is therefore important to make sure that the following rules are observed at all times and in all connections where the control module has to be removed or replaced for any reason.


• Avoid unplugging or removing the control module unless absolutely necessary.

• Never touch the connector pins and never place the control module in such a way that the connector pins come into contact with foreign objects.

• Before unpacking a new control module, ground the packaging to the car body. Open the packaging as shortly as possible before fitting the control module in the car.

• When handling or working on control modules it is important to ground yourself from time to time. This is particularly important when you have been sitting in the car, when changing your position, or when moving round the car. It is even more important in conditions of extremely dry air (such as during the winter in cold-climate markets).

• Avoid wearing clothes made of synthetic materials (man-made fibres).

• Avoid wearing shoes with insulating rubber soles.

• Always handle control modules that are suspected of being faulty in the same manner as a control module in perfect working order. This will substantially increase the possibility of determining the cause of the fault.